Tennis icon Billie Jean King, shown in 2014, and life partner Ilana Kloss will be announced as new minority owners of the Dodgers on Friday night at Dodger Stadium. (Brendan Sullivan / The Associated Press)

Billie Jean King was speaking at a wellness conference in San Diego on Thursday afternoon when the news became official: she was becoming a part-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers. She broke the news then and there to a delighted crowd, then showed off the “Dodger blue” shoes she was wearing on stage.

King and her life partner, Ilana Kloss, will be introduced to the media Friday at Dodger Stadium.

King, 75, and Kloss, 62, are former professional tennis players who have previous ownership-level experience in the World TeamTennis league. King, a Long Beach native, is most famous for beating Bobby Riggs in a singles match in 1973 dubbed “The Battle Of The Sexes.”

King and Kloss are the Dodgers’ first new ownership partners since Guggenheim Baseball Management purchased the team in 2012.

In addition to joining the Dodgers’ ownership group, King and Kloss are also expected to join chairman Mark Walter as a member of the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks ownership group, pending league approval.

“As someone born, raised and educated in Southern California, it is an honor to be part of the Dodger ownership group,” King said in a statement released by the team. “Mark Walter and the entire Dodger organization are a first-class operation that have proven to be leaders in sports on and off the field of play. We share a commitment to equality and inclusion, including the LGBTQ community, and we hope to further expand the team’s efforts in those areas as we move forward together.”

Like her parents and cousins, King attended high school at Long Beach Poly, at a time when the school did not offer competitive sports programs for girls. She told the Southern California News Group in a 2014 profile that she competed in an off-campus recreational tennis program offered through the school.

As a professional tennis player, King won 39 Grand Slam titles. The USTA National Tennis Center in New York City now bears her name. Kloss became the number-1 ranked doubles player in the World in 1976.

Together, King and Kloss have used their platform to advocate for women’s and LGBTQ causes.

They co-founded the Billie Jean King Leadership Initiative, which addresses inclusion and diversity issues in the workplace. The couple also are founding board members of the Elton John AIDS Foundation and both serve on the executive committee of the Women’s Sports Foundation (WSF).

“Billie Jean King is a true American trailblazer who has tirelessly championed for gender pay equality, LGBTQ rights, and diverse, inclusive workforce leadership,” commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. “Through her groundbreaking efforts, she has earned some of the most highly regarded recognitions available to athletes and advocates.

“Ilana Kloss is well-known for being both a professional tennis player and for her work as the chief executive officer and commissioner of World TeamTennis. We are excited to have them both join the National Pastime.”

Kloss, a native of South Africa, said in a statement, “I have been fortunate to work closely with Mark and Kimbra Walter on some projects, and I’m looking forward to being part of the Dodgers’ ownership group and helping the team expand its reach with new audiences. I hope to work with the team at a variety of levels and I share the organization’s proven commitment to excellence on the field and in the community.”

King’s younger brother, Randy Moffitt, was a star baseball player for Poly who pitched 12 major league seasons for the Giants, Astros and Blue Jays.

“We’re excited and proud to welcome two trailblazing athletes, social advocates and businesswomen, Billie Jean King and Ilana Kloss, to our ownership group,” Walter said in a statement. “Just like Billie Jean and Ilana, the Dodger franchise has a history of and commitment to breaking barriers, inclusion and winning, and we’re looking forward to them continuing to promote these attributes within our organization.”

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The Dodgers also announced a multi-year contract extension for Jaime Jarrín, the team’s longtime Spanish play-by-play announcer. The 2020 season will be his 62nd with the team, extending his run as baseball’s longest-tenured broadcaster. Jarrin, 82, will be inducted as the 12th member of the Dodger Stadium Ring of Honor in a pregame ceremony Friday.